


Loving Cats is an Absolute Fuckin Must

by BanishedOne



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Cat Hoarding, Character Background, Developing Relationship, Easy Read, Fluff, Heart-Warming, M/M, Post-Game(s), Romance, Wholesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 01:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17437340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BanishedOne/pseuds/BanishedOne
Summary: A heart-warming story in which RK900 has low self-esteem to the point that he’s a bit dramatic about it and becomes a cat-hoarder as a result. His only real friend at work is Connor but he accidentally befriends Gavin when the man learns about his cat-hoarding situation. Lots of cats find their forever homes, as well as some other strays.





	Loving Cats is an Absolute Fuckin Must

**Author's Note:**

> Just to be extra careful, WARNINGS FOR: stress shutdowns and some fist-fighting. Otherwise, this story is incredibly tame.
> 
> PLEASE ENJOY~

The RK900 was helpless to escape the bad first impression that he’d left on everyone of importance, only moments after being introduced as, ‘The most advanced android ever created by Cyberlife, capable of military and police work and complex investigations.’

The reception was lukewarm, which was already nerve-wracking enough, but to make it worse, after being introduced to his famous predecessor, the Lieutenant, and his own partner- a Detective Reed- the RK900 turned to leave the Captain’s office, only to misstep and topple gracelessly down the stairs.

Gut-laughter at a volume piercing enough to draw the attention of the entire station came from Gavin Reed, and he bent over the rails outside of Fowler’s Office, eyes plastered to the image of the ‘advanced android’ in an unmoving heap at the foot of the stairs. 

Hank and Connor hurried out in alarm, though Hank paused at the top of the stairs and folded his arms across his chest, gesturing at the fallen android, which appeared unresponsive. “Is he gonna be okay?” the man asked nonchalantly, in his growl of a voice.

Connor strode down the stairs to check on the RK900, baffled and concerned. The other android’s LED was flickering red, as though it was in the process of shutting down altogether. His first thought was that something was very wrong with the RK900, which had caused him to stall mid-walk.

Upon running a scan, however, Connor found that there was nothing at all wrong with the other android. “There’s no indication of damage, which would contribute to the accident and I can’t discern any reason for him enter shutdown, either.”

“He literally died of embarrassment,” Gavin filled in with another laugh of mockery. “That’s fuckin’ rich.”

“Didn’t you fall down those stairs the first time Jeffrey called you into his office, too?” Hank said, glancing over at Gavin in time to watch him go white at having that brought up.

“Fuck off, Anderson,” Gavin hissed, though his hair-trigger anger brought a smile to Hank’s face which hadn’t been there previously. The young Detective hurried off after being called out, going out of his own way to escape the embarrassment that had gotten focused unwittingly on him.

Unfortunately, the RK900 did not actually shut down that day, but was instead forced to carry on with life, even after such an immense failure in front of all of his peers. He would have liked to believe that he did not have a proclivity for mishaps, but time and time again, he found himself screwing up.

And these screw ups, more often than not, led to similar instances of him going completely unresponsive, as though his systems were shutting down. How else was he meant to reply? He was supposed to be perfect, infallible, a masterpiece of human innovation and mechanical wonder.

But he wasn’t perfect, and by his own admission, a flawed machine’s only real fate was deactivation.

“Your work is.. actually flawless,” Connor said to the RK900, who’d quickly assigned himself the name ‘Nathan’ as though in the hopes that people would forget his model number, altogether. The two androids were working closely, as Connor possessed an uncanny ability to soothe the other android’s stress.

“What?” Nathan said, skeptical. He rarely spoke at all when he wasn’t being addressed, and he kept it curt when speech was required. Connor was the only person he ever made any kind of casual conversation with, and despite his partnership with Detective Reed, Nathan hadn’t said a single word to him.

“I’ve noticed a steep rise in Detective Reed’s productivity and the accuracy of his paperwork, as well as a decline in mishaps involving him,” Connor smiled, giving Nathan a look that was so naturally warm, it turned the other android’s LED instantly to red. “That can only be the result of your handiwork.”

“Detective Reed is good at his job and he’s passionate about it,” the RK900 replied. “I merely help him manage himself and provide insight where it’s needed. I can’t take any credit for his success.”

Connor was of the opinion that Nathan was sickeningly modest and far too hard on himself, but he supposed it was simply a personality quirk from somewhere deep in his code and that it likely wouldn’t be easily dissuaded. However, after a particularly bad episode of false shut down, Connor couldn’t hold his peace any longer.

“-so while we were searching for the stolen bike, I followed a set of tire marks left behind that were fresh enough to be within the appropriate time window, but after walking for twenty minutes, it turned out to be the wrong bike,” Nathan was telling Connor, after coming out of his episode hours later.

“If I had just realized that the tread belonged to a racing-style bike tire and that it was a mountain bike that had been stolen, I wouldn’t have wasted our time and effort,” he finished, his head falling into his hands in shame.

“Was Gavin very upset?” Connor asked, awkwardly patting the other android on the shoulder.

“No, he wasn’t,” Nathan mumbled. “He shrugged it off like it wasn’t a big deal, but he doesn’t have to be upset for me to realize all on my own what a disappointment I am. I’m worthless, Connor. I really should be deactivated.”

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

“No, humans make mistakes. We’re not supposed to.”

“Maybe you should see a therapist,” Connor suggested, a little unsure of the idea, himself. Yeah, it wasn’t just humans that made mistakes- he made plenty, himself. “Hank recently started seeing one as well. He also struggles with thoughts of... ‘self deactivation.’”

“There aren’t therapists for us, Connor,” Nathan hummed, doleful as ever.

“Then perhaps.. a therapy animal?” Connor suggested. Little did he know, that one, seemingly innocent thought, intended to help remedy the RK900's stress, would simply lead to another bad habit.

That evening, on his way home, the RK900 decided to make the obtaining of a ‘therapy animal’ his most important directive. It was easy work for him, given his ability to track lone paw-prints left behind in the thinnest layer of dirt and to use clues in order to reconstruct where a particularly skittish animal was hiding.

By morning, he had done extensive research about the care and behavior of cats, and had gone on a bit of a shopping spree in order to provide for his eight, brand new therapy pets. (He also downloaded an old game called ‘Neko Atsume’ to play in his head, when he couldn’t be near his pets.)

By the end of the month, and after finding several additional strays, Nathan came to terms with the fact that he now had an all new problem.

“Excuse me, Officer Miller,” Nathan began, approaching his coworker. The man turned to see Nathan standing there, but he gave the android a confused expression, in clear doubt that he’d spoken up. It was understandable, given how little conversation he made. He was terribly antisocial for someone with advanced social protocols; unfortunate, really. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to inquire as to whether you would be interested in adopting a cat?” Nathan asked, a bit overly professional about it.

“Sorry,” Chris replied with a degree of speed that brought a furrow of offense to the android’s brow. It was his belief that anybody would be lucky to take on one of his beloved pets, so to be turned down so quickly left him balking. “I’ve got young kids, and I’ve heard having cats around is bad.”

Nathan nodded and proceeded to the next coworker, certain that there would be others who would be more stoked at his offer.

“Officer Collins, would you be interested in adopting a cat?”

“I would, but I’m deathly allergic to them.”

“Officer Wilson?”

“Yeah, my apartment building doesn’t allow pets, sorry.”

“Lieutenant Anderson?”

“I don’t think a cat would get along very well with my dog.”

Later, in the break room, Nathan found himself sitting with Connor as usual while he mulled over things, his head in his hands all the while. “I’m having a terribly difficult time narrowing down which of our coworkers would be likely to adopt a cat,” he explained, his sharp, blue eyes meeting Connor’s deep gaze, hoping for answers.

“Hm,” Connor hummed, pondering the dilemma for all of three seconds before he offered a suggestion, “have you tried scanning for cat hair? If there’s evidence that somebody has interacted with a cat, I’d say that would be a good indication of their willingness to take one on.”

“I..” the RK900 stalled, his mind going blank, his LED spinning red. “I didn’t even think of that. I’m an embarrassment. I really should be deactivated.”

Luckily, instead of having one of his shutdown episodes, he distracted the overpowering thrum of his eager processors with Neko Atsume. He turned his audio and video off completely, existing in a world of adorable, visiting kitties and soft, calming music. Then, once his break was over, he and Detective Reed set off to investigate a new case.

While the duo were in the car together, Nathan checked his game, opening the screen on his palm but keeping the music trapped inside his head, so to avoid disturbing Detective Reed. However, now that Nathan was used to being fully distracted and relaxed by this cutesy game, he didn’t think twice about commenting on it aloud.

“Tubbs,” he muttered lowly, “the amount of food that you consume far surpasses your metabolic requirements.”

“Yeah,” Gavin commented with a chuckle, “Tubbs is a real greedy, little bastard.”

Nathan blinked at the sound of his partner’s voice, then glanced over in bewilderment that didn’t meet his face. He had still yet to address Detective Reed verbally in the entirety of their partnership and was even quite sure that his own silence aided the human in maintaining his focus.

In short, this was unprecedented. It did serve to intrigue the android, however, and instead of making further conversation, he activated his more advanced sensors in order to run a scan on Gavin Reed. Against his expectations, he found that the man was actually covered in fur of the feline variety.

“You have cats..” he babbled, in disbelief. His character analysis of Gavin Reed hadn’t suggested that he’d be the kind of person to be interested or sensitive to the needs of a small animal, and certainly not one that wasn’t exactly known for strict obedience, as dogs often were.

“Yeah,” Gavin scoffed like his honor, masculinity, and mother’s sexual dignity were being called into question all at once, “wanna make something of it?”

“Yes, I would like to make something of it. I mean, I do.” Nathan paused, trying to compose himself. “Actually, what I’d like to ask is if you’d be interested in adopting a cat.”

“Can’t,” Gavin said with a disappointed shrug, his answer causing the android in the passenger seat to wilt. “I’ve already got six and they’re a damn handful. I deal with as much shit at home as I do at work, but like, literal shit.”

Nathan watched his partner as the man spoke- no analyzing, just watching, just genuinely looking at him and all he was, as though in a whole, new light. Then, when the detective finished, Nathan smiled. “Their biological needs do take an incredible amount of effort to manage, yes.”

“You have more than one, huh?” Gavin asked, thinking it strange that an android should have a difficult time handling pet-related chores. When he heard the bizarre switch in tone that came with Nathan’s reply, though, his curiosity turned to deep concern.

“I have quite a few more than one,” Nathan stated, grim and exhausted in a way that no machine should have ever been. “It has turned into something of a crisis, which is why I’m attempting to re-home them.”

“Alright, well..” Gavin was hesitant, but when it came to cats, he just couldn’t help himself. He was probably the weakest person he knew, when it came to resisting the urge to take yet another one home. “Maybe I could take one off your hands. I’ll drop by after work.”

After work, it was made very, very apparent to Gavin Reed that he was actually the second weakest person he knew, when it came to resisting the urge to take cats home.

The moment he walked into the android’s apartment, Gavin noticed that there was an overpowering stench, rather like what he’d expect from a crime scene. From every corner of the home, cats came rushing to greet their owner, crying out for food, affection, and more food.

The sound of the cats all screaming as they ran around their owner’s feet was deafening, their voices screeching in unison while they created a veritable stampede of furry bodies and pattering paws against the floor in an adorable riot of desperation.

“H-how many cats do you have, exactly?” Gavin screamed, hardly even able to hear himself and certainly unable to go much further than the welcome mat, given all of the floor space was occupied by cats of every shape and size.

“I own seventy-three cats in total,” Nathan replied. It certainly was odd to, in one day, go from never talking to his partner, to raising his voice at him in order to be heard, but he supposed the circumstances called for it.

“Unbe-fuckin-lievable.” Gavin didn’t say that with the intent to be heard, and Nathan didn’t comment on it, but he had heard it, regardless.

To Nathan’s benefit, he had managed the situation with an amount of finesse and organization that only an android could have. He owned numerous cat towers. He’d expanded the space available to the feline occupants by building walking platforms along the walls. 

There were at least three litterboxes in each room. There were beds and cushions scattered about the premises, and each window had a table or desk of some kind just beneath it, to allow the cats to look outside. The entire kitchen was stocked with various foods for the herd of cats, so their diet was varied and not one of them looked unhealthy. 

Even so, it was very clearly too much, even for an android.

Gavin settled himself atop one of the kitchen counters while Nathan set to work preparing dinner for his furry army, watching in as much fascination as horror, then when all of the cats had finally stopped screaming, he spoke up.

“Yeah, pal, me taking one off your hands isn’t gonna make a dent in this,” he said, shaking his head and scratching his stubbled cheek in thought. He also could have pointed out that his partner was way over the legal amount of animals he was allowed in the square footage of his apartment, but he refrained.

Gavin extended his fingers out to one of the shy cats who had been inching closer to him, in curiosity. He waited for the young, orange tabby to be done sniffing his hand, then he gave its head a scratch. 

“I can maybe help you find homes for them, though,” he said with a sigh. This looked like an insurmountable task that was sure to take up way too much of his fuckin free time, but.. he cared and it sucked.

“I would appreciate your assistance,” Nathan stated, utterly humbled by the kind and unexpected offer. “I’ve been so busy caring for them, I haven’t had time to go into stasis and run diagnostics for several weeks.”

The next day, when Nathan and Gavin began work, Gavin immediately set to prodding his android partner for details pertaining to the cat situation. Nathan felt a bit like he was being interrogated, but like a good witness, he was cooperative. 

They discussed how Nathan had gone about finding the cats; that they were all strays which he tracked down and captured. They talked in detail about their veterinary visits, with particular concern for the fact that most of them hadn’t been spayed or neutered, nor vaccinated. At the very least, they had all been treated for fleas and parasites.

With all of the pertinent information gathered, Gavin decided on a plan of action. First, in the hopes of knocking a few cats off the list, they would attempt to find out if any of them were previously owned, and lost accidentally.

“Here,” Gavin said, tossing his phone over to the android, “I already have a shit load of bookmarks pertaining to lost cats. Run through them and see if you recognize any.”

“Certainly,” Nathan replied, his LED flickering in processing as he downloaded the bookmarks from the phone memory. It was an easy task for him to compare the database of lost cat images to his own photographic memory of his pets and he did so while still making conversation.

“So, Detective Reed,” the android began carefully, though Gavin had already set to work on his real job. His hands paused on the keyboard of his terminal and his hazel eyes shifted to look at the android across from him.

“I didn’t realize, nor expect that you would already have so much data on hand about lost cats across Detroit..” Nathan quietly said, his tone clearly baffled.

“Yeah, look,” Gavin rolled in his chair, leaning across the desk in order to keep his voice down, “if you tell anybody about this, I will literally shove my whole foot up your ass-”

“I think you mean figuratively.”

“No, trust me, I mean literally,” Gavin hissed like he was a feral tom cat. He then lowered his voice again and explained, “When I was a kid, I wanted to become a detective because in cartoons, they were always getting paid to track down lost cats and I like cats.”

Nathan smiled at the revelation, though Gavin turned predictably resentful at the android’s charmed expression. “Young Detective Reed made observations and drew rather decisive conclusions,” the android commented, attempting to compliment the human.

“Uh huh,” the man scoffed at the brown-nosery from the android. He was sure that he was going to regret breaking their previously distant relationship, if his partner turned into as much of a shit-sucking, know-it-all as Connor. No, he preferred his silent, killing-machine partner, who was obedient and kind of a screw up.

“So anyway, tracking down lost cats turned into a hobby of mine when I was younger and I made a lot of money from it, too. Well, for a kid, anyway.” Gavin leaned himself back in his desk chair, propping his foot on a bar underneath and going back to work.

He would skip the part of his childhood where he started a ‘Detective Club’ that was dedicated to tracking down lost pets and riding from neighborhood to neighborhood on bikes while searching for clues. Also the part where, despite having started the club, he ultimately got kicked out for being an asshole.

A short silence fell between the partners, then when the RK900 had searched the online database completely, he spoke up to say, “I believe I have at least fifteen cats which were listed online as being lost.”

“Sweet,” Gavin slapped the table victoriously. “Contact each person and let them know that we found their pet and we’ll bring them home when we’re done with work. Make sure you get their addresses. Also, hey, what’s the total of the reward money for all fifteen?”

“Almost a thousand dollars,” Nathan answered, after making a quick calculation.

“Good, you’re gonna need it to cover the vet bills for the others, in order to make them adoptable,” Gavin stated, this time not looking up from his terminal.

“You are..” Nathan commented, having not expected such an immense level of organization from his oft distracted and hot-headed partner, “..very good at this.”

Detective Reed laughed, then glanced over in order to wink, making a clicking sound with his mouth and saying, “You know it.”

After work, they delivered the lost cats as promised and though Gavin insisted on Nathan keeping all of the reward money for the sake of the other cats, Nathan insisted with equal fervor that his human partner accept at least a paltry gift for his efforts and assistance.

The very next day, Gavin had apparently already contacted the Detroit SPCA and arranged a deal to have the group vaccinated and spayed or neutered for a lump sum. The cost was still a good bit more than what they had, even with them both willing to contribute from their salary.

And so, the two of them went about wrangling the extra funds by combining their significant skill and experience when it came to hunting down lost pets. For a few hours after work each day, they dedicated themselves to this mission. Eventually, Gavin became close enough with his partner to invite him over to his apartment.

It was for the sake of discussing adoptions, of course.

“So,” Gavin began, though his voice was muffled from how his head was shoved into his refrigerator. He straightened, then walked into the livingroom, finding his android partner seated on the floor, trying very hard to make friends with two of his own cats.

Gavin plopped down on the couch, popped the seal on an energy drink, then after a quick swig, he continued, “I put up several ads on different sites about the cats we have for adoption, asking for small adoption fees. There are some who are willing to pay the fees up front, so with that, there should be eno-”

“Excuse me, Detective?” Nathan glanced over his shoulder, leaning so his back pressed against the front of the couch. “I appreciate your efforts, of course, but would you mind introducing us?” He gestured to the friendly, white cat already on his lap and the young tuxedo boy, sitting at his knee.

“The white one is Croissant,” he said with a breathy chuckle, leaning so his elbows were rested against his thighs. “The little one there is Seth.”

“Croissant?” the RK900 repeated, intrigued and unsure how one would have chosen such a name for the sweet, little cloud of white fur on his lap.

“Yeaah,” Gavin groaned, “because she’s light and fluffy, like a baked good, okay?”

“I see,” Nathan purred, his own voice a low hum, lacking any kind of negative judgement. “That’s very creative, Detective. I’m afraid all of my names were rather.. obvious, by comparison.”

“Jesus, dude,” Gavin scooted down from the edge of the couch, seating himself next to the android on the floor. Croissant quickly walked from Nathan’s lap to Gavin’s. “Speaking of names, stop calling me ‘Detective’ and just use mine, already.”

“Gavin,” the android said experimentally, quietly, unsure of himself as he did so. It felt odd on his tongue, but it was pleasing, nonetheless. He gave a nod, refocusing his attention toward petting Seth and seeing if the shy cat would warm up a bit. “As you were saying, we’re ready to move to the adoption phase?”

“Yup,” he answered, taking another sip from his drink, while Croissant head-butted against the can. “We need to meet the people who want to take the cats home beforehand, just to make sure they seem decent and they have their shit together. We’ll have to do it at my place because yours is a fuckin’ disaster.”

“Agreed,” Nathan uttered, though his LED flickered momentarily to red. He recovered from the slight rather quickly, however, and decidedly began the conversation anew. “So, why cats?”

“What?”

“Why do you like cats so much?”

Gavin didn’t reply. Actually, he hadn’t really asked himself that question before. He twiddled his fingers against the can between his palms, glancing at his arms, where his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows. His skin was littered with scars, some from accidents, some from fights, some from one cat in particular and others from himself.

“There was one cat, when I was kid. He was kind of an asshole,” he started, thinking back. It was an old, gray tabby. Scruffy as anything, with nicked ears and eyes that always looked infected. Other kids in his neighborhood loved to screw with it, but it was smart enough to avoid them for the most part.

His thoughts went from the cat, to his mother; always criticizing, always angry, always hitting him for no fucking reason at all. Discipline, he supposed. She never put food in the house, always accused him of being selfish, ungrateful, always made him feel like everything he did was wrong.

His thoughts went from his mother, to school; everyone knew he was less than them. He got lunch for free. He wore the same clothes every day. He did poorly in class and while all of his peers were talking about the latest things, he could never follow along with their interests because he didn’t have the things they had.

He remembered when his classmates’ families all got their own domestic androids. He recalled with bitter clarity how proud they all were of this cool, expensive thing that they owned, and how they all flaunted it like the only thing they enjoyed about owning these androids was getting to say, ‘I own it.’

He went back to the cat; the kids in his neighborhood always kicked it around and treated it like shit. It was mean and pissed and terrified all the fucking time, always alone, struggling to survive, getting bothered by asshole kids. They loved those androids so much, but something that was alive? They didn’t care at all.

And one day, Gavin trapped the old bastard and carried it home. The cat clawed the daylights out of him, until his arms and face were covered in blood, but it was okay, because it felt like nothing could hurt him any longer. And furthermore, the pain he chose was pain he could bear.

Yeah, his mom kicked his ass when he got home, complained about not being able to afford a pet, guilt-tripped him for hours until he was screaming and crying and the angry cat was hiding under his bed, but he held his ground. What’s more, he knew his mother would never be able to physically handle the cat in order to throw him out.

The old bastard lived until Gavin finished highschool, but he couldn’t be sad about his death because he’d passed in peace and comfort that hadn’t been afforded to him for most of his life. 

“You know what,” Gavin swatted one hand, “not everything has to be deep. I just like them.”

“Fair enough,” Nathan said, positive that this was a deception on the human’s part, but he allowed his partner to hold onto his privacy. He understood by now that Detective Reed simply didn’t like being asked too many personal questions, so he would refrain.

For the next couple of weeks, Nathan and Gavin met with potential adoptive parents for the massive army of cats still in Nathan’s care. For the most part, the people were pleasant, likable, and they knew enough about cats to own one.

There was only one occasion which required the RK900 to make a show of protectiveness. On this particular day, when one of the potentials was inexplicably rubbing him the wrong way, he very cooly made a joke about how every cat had a microchip that he could track and that he would eliminate any human who dared to hurt them.

Gavin knew very well that he was lying, but just laughed and said, “Androids be crazy.”

Suffice to say, that person left empty-handed, regardless of whether they believed him or not.

Once enough candidates paid their adoption fees up front, Gavin and Nathan set aside their break time to discuss how they wanted to handle getting fifty-something cats to the vet. It was going to happen over the course of several days and Nathan was going to need to take extra care while the cats were recovering-

“Oh, hello Detective Reed, hello Nathan,” Connor said, almost surprised to find them both in the break room, given that they had rarely taken their breaks together. He was in pursuit of coffee for his human companion and began preparing a fresh pot.

“Hello, Connor,” Nathan greeted the other android. Gavin only scoffed and rolled his eyes, like Connor’s presence was a torment.

“Hey, why don’t you bring me a coffee, too, since you’re such a servile dipshit,” Gavin called out to Connor, crossing his arms and laughing like he’d accomplished something.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Detective Reed, but I thought servility was a trait that you appreciated in androids?”

“I do,” he agreed, “so shut your fuckin’ mouth and take a compliment.”

Connor shook his head in clear dissatisfaction, but nonetheless, when the coffee was done brewing, he brought a cup over to Detective Reed. He did not address the human, and instead offered a smile to the RK900, who was watching him with thinly-veiled sympathy.

“Nathan,” Connor asked, “you haven’t had one of your episodes lately, have you?”

“That’s correct,” he answered in a pleasant tone, having not actually realized his own improvement.

“I’m glad,” Connor patted Nathan on the shoulder as he so often did to comfort him, though this time it was congratulatory. He then fetched another cup of coffee for Hank as intended and got back to work.

“What’s up with you? Why do you sometimes turn off, anyway?” Gavin prodded, once Connor was out of sight. The RK900's steely eyes turned to look at his human partner, his head tilting fractionally to one side in confusion.

Nathan understood what was being asked, but he hadn’t really presented himself with the same question, prior to now. Why did he do it? He understood the events leading up to his episodes; the tension, the pressure, the overactive way his mechanical brain was constantly turning and turning, like something barreling downhill without brakes.

Sometimes everything was just too much and as a result, his brain stopped. And when his brain stopped, while he was locked in darkness and shame, the instinct to altogether cease to be came along and offered peace, and he initiated his own self-deactivation. He always recovered and cancelled it before the timer ran out, however.

“I don’t know,” he answered after a few seconds. “Sometimes I just hate myself so much that have to stop being myself for a few minutes in order to keep going.”

“Ohh.” Gavin didn’t know jack about sensitivity or emotional vulnerability, so he was clueless as to how he should respond. One hand moved to touch his forearm, to rest upon the jacket sleeve hiding all of his scars. He understood. He just didn’t know what to say.

So he said nothing. He went back to work without saying anything.

The partners got through the numerous vet visits and every cat in Nathan’s care recovered without issue after their spay or neuter. He had to reorganize a bit to assure that everything would be fine, confining some cats to the bedroom, others to crates, to make certain that they rested enough.

At last, the first several cats went to new homes. Nathan had put together a nice database of pictures to choose from and the new owners picked from there. They came to Gavin’s apartment to meet the cat they’d chosen and usually took it home without hesitation.

Those were some of the easier ones, because it was the success that he and his human partner had been working toward. It was less labor to attend to, a happy ending and a better circumstance for an animal that he adored, so Nathan was content enough.

Only once the numbers began to sharply decline did Nathan show signs of distress. He had a more difficult time letting go with each one that was adopted, especially on days when somebody picked from the original eight he brought home on the first night.

And then, it happened- while they were in the middle of a meet and greet with somebody who’d come to adopt, Nathan’s LED turned to red and he went unresponsive. The person was fine and he liked them alright, but they were just so certain about the adoption, too certain. 

They didn’t even meet the cat for a solid minute before they were ready to take her home, and Nathan hadn’t properly eased himself into letting her go. He didn’t know why he was doing this. He should have been capable of working a job and taking care of, yes, even 73 cats.

When he awakened, Croissant was loafed on top of him. He opened his eyes and she was looking him in the face, slow-blinking with her big, green eyes. He turned his head; his cat was nowhere to be found, but Gavin was sitting nearby.

“Hey, you good, pal?” he asked, giving the android a teasing nudge with his foot.

“I’m done,” Nathan spoke, his voice dark and doleful, his crisp, blue gaze focused upward, at the texture of the ceiling above. “I don’t want to give any more of my cats away.”

“You still have like twenty-two cats,” Gavin said, like this shouldn’t have been so difficult. 

How could he be like that? Why didn’t he understand? Would he give his own cats away? For the first time ever, Nathan turned a genuinely angry look at the human, his brows knitting together, wrinkling the skin between them. “I can take care of twenty-two cats.”

“No you can’t,” Gavin said, sharp and certain, leaning forward in his seat. “I mean, maybe you could keep them alive, sure. But it wouldn’t be ideal for them and it wouldn’t be ideal for you and you should accept that. Sometimes you just can’t. That’s what life is, a whole bunch of trying and trying, only to find out- you can’t.”

“Is that why you hate us all so much, then? Is this why you’re always so unkind to Connor?” came the cold, hard, steady of Nathan’s voice in reply. He very gently sat Croissant aside, then pulled himself upright. “..because you’re so intimidated by the thought of somebody who doesn’t fail as often as you?”

Maybe Nathan hadn’t actually meant his words quite how they sounded, but regardless, within an instant of him uttering them, Gavin Reed had knocked him flat and was striking him in the face with a tightly balled fist. Nathan was simply allowing the show of aggression, choosing not to fight back.

This time, he actively decided to do and be less than what he was capable of. He endured two, three, four blows to the face, so that his skin was drawing back from the shiny plastic beneath and his lip was stained blue with thirium. In his eyes there was an unreachable, far-off look and for some reason or another, when Gavin recognized it, he stopped.

The man clambered off of the android, his chest rising and falling with the sudden quickness of his breath, then he said, “Leave.”

Nathan obeyed without a word. When he came to work the next day, he obeyed without a word. Day after day after day, he obeyed without a word. He still performed to the best of his abilities, he still did everything he could to assist his partner, but he left all friendliness and pleasantries behind.

Until, apparently, Gavin couldn’t handle the endless silence any longer. One day, as they were leaving the station, instead of walking away from the RK900, he turned to him and said, “I’m sorry. Okay? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I am sorry.”

Nathan watched him, silent, unblinking, so neutral that one would have never guessed that he was considering the words he was hearing. He waited, listening and as expected, Gavin went on, “I shouldn’t have gotten so pissed and I shouldn’t have hit you. But, you know, if it’s any consolation, you were obviously right.”

“I wasn’t,” Nathan piped up. “My words were poorly considered.”

“No,” Gavin scoffed, his eyes nervously looking anywhere but at the android’s face. “Your words hit their mark. You were right, I have never really excelled, and yeah, I do find it pretty damn infuriating that people like you start their lives already perfect and good at everything.”

“I thought we were the same,” he went on, “I thought you were somebody like me, somebody who struggled. But we’re not, because you are exactly as perfect as you were meant to be, you just don’t realize it for whatever reason.”

“But that’s just how it is, I guess,” Gavin shrugged, the aggression in his tone ebbing away. “That’s why I’m here apologizing to you. To be honest, I kinda thought this fucked up friendship we had would come to an end when all of the cats were adopted, and I was dreading it a bit. So it just figures that I’d fuck it up even sooner.”

“It’s not over,” the android stated. “I enjoyed being your friend, regardless of whether you were perfect or not, though I would say you are much like myself- better than what you realize. And that means that you were right- we are the same.”

“I will forgive you,” Nathan said very calmly. “But only if you also make an effort to be nicer to Connor, as well.”

“Nice? To Connor?” Gavin balked. “How can you like someone like Connor?”

“Someone like him? I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

“A dog person,” Gavin spat with disgust. There was a tense, momentary silence between them, until the man couldn’t hold back any longer, and he let out a laugh, which was swiftly and surprisingly chorused by Nathan’s own warm, genuine laughter.

The android approached the man, a soft, forgiving smile on his face. Gavin straightened at Nathan’s nearness, hesitating, unsure, and certainly not used to the concept of asking forgiveness, nor being forgiven. He didn’t know what the fuck to do next. For some reason or another, Nathan knew precisely.

Nathan placed his arms around Gavin’s shoulders, gently encircling him and drawing him nearer. Gavin stood still and tense, in as much cluelessness as hesitance, then at last he put his arms around his android friend in acceptance, kind of wishing they hadn’t done this directly in front of the station.

After that, they carried on with their mission to rehome what remained of Nathan’s cat army, not that the RK900 was any more comfortable with it than he was before. Gavin gave him this advice- “Decide now how many and which ones you want to keep. That’ll make it easier.”

It didn’t make things any easier. It put the pressure of making such an awful decision on Nathan and he was just terrible at dealing with pressure. He made up his mind to keep only one cat, and that was a lofty goal, but he believed that forcing himself to narrow it down that far would offer greater clarity as to his feelings, his priorities.

Whenever they adopted off another cat, Nathan would always spend an extra hour or two at Gavin’s apartment, contemplating his feelings, his priorities. Gavin’s cats enjoyed the additional company and affection, and Nathan very much liked his cats. He was also sure that Gavin enjoyed the company as well, though he was more aloof about it than them.

Nathan had gotten much closer with Seth, the young tuxedo cat, and had also finally met Pinecone, Spaghetti, Clovis, and Church. Yes, he forced Gavin to explain each and every one of those names, because they never made any sense to the slightly uncreative android.

Each time Nathan was ready to leave Gavin’s apartment after an adoption, Gavin would say, “You good?” Nathan never discerned if it was leftover guilt from their fight, or if the man was really making sure that the stress of giving up another cat wasn’t going to bring on one of his episodes. He didn’t ask.

He always confirmed that he was ‘good.’ Or he was functional, anyway. He was content- that was the word for it. It was bizarre to him how calm he’d become and maybe it was because even though he was steadily losing his own cat hoard, Gavin’s feline friends were filling the void.

Or maybe it was something else..?

One by one, the number of his cat hoard dropped, from the twenties, to the teens, until it finally slowed around the single digits. Things stalled at four, when he was left with two black cats, a cat that was slightly senior, and one that was an unfortunate mix of shy and ugly. He wasn’t ugly, really, just very scarred from life on the streets. And he wasn’t shy once he warmed up.

Weeks passed. Four became three, then two, then one. Another week passed, and the last one that Nathan was willing to give up was finally rehomed.

“Maybe I can come to your place now that it’s not full of cats?” Gavin said one day while they were working. It was a joke, Nathan could tell by the way he laughed after. Even so, Nathan agreed. He had done quite a thorough job cleaning his place, as it had gotten much more manageable and he was now confident showing his residence off.

He had something else in mind, however, and Gavin had unwittingly given him the perfect excuse to get on with it. That evening, they drove together to Nathan’s apartment and the android couldn’t help but smile in pride at how much more reasonably presentable it was when they arrived.

There, curled on the (new) couch, was a middle-aged, brown tabby, with a pink nose and bright, green eyes. It had a rather grouchy-looking face, always seeming to glare, but Gavin thought it was probably deceiving. However, the moment he strode over to interact with the animal, it let out an angry wail, swiping, hissing, and bolting out of sight.

“Wow, what an asshole. That’s the one you decided to keep?” Gavin laughed over it, regardless, shaking his hand that now bore fresh wounds.

“I thought, of all the cats I brought home, this one was most likely to need the kind of care and patience I have to offer,” Nathan explained. It actually was a little funny- all of this had begun because he wanted an animal for his own comfort. Now he’d settled on a frightened, angry devil that needed even more comfort than he, himself.

“Would you like a drink?” Nathan offered.

“What? Water from the tap?” Gavin replied, teasing. Of course his android friend didn’t have jack but cat food and tap water. To his surprise, though, when Nathan opened the refrigerator, it was.. pretty much empty, aside from a small collection of beverages he’d seen Gavin consume at his own home.

The android gave the other man a clever smile, and though Gavin scoffed over it, he agreed. He came over to the kitchen, hopping up on the counter and settling there as he made his selection.

When Nathan turned to deliver Gavin’s beverage to his hand, he presented a new idea to his human friend, as well, “I wanted to name him after the cat you had when you were younger- the asshole cat that you very vaguely mentioned once before.”

“Wh-”

“If that’s okay with you, of course.”

Gavin went quiet. It was alright, he was thinking and Nathan didn’t want to rush him. It clearly was a big deal, something that meant a lot to him, enough that he couldn’t even talk about it before. Nathan gave him space and silence, care and patience. That always seemed to help.

“It’s fine,” Gavin concluded, brushing it off like it really wasn’t a big deal to him at all, and he didn’t want to make it into one. “Hawkshaw. That was his name.”

Nathan’s first instinct was to say, ‘Are you sure you’re okay with it?’ Instead, he went with the usual, “How did you pick that name?”

A snort came out of Gavin at the sheer, goddamn predictability of it. He glanced down at his hand, pressing the cold, wet surface of his beverage can against the angry, red scratches left behind by Nathan’s feral terror of cat. “I just heard it in a cartoon,” he explained. It wasn’t that deep. “It sounded cool. And I wasn’t a very creative kid, so there ya’ go.”

A warm smile upturned the corners of Nathan’s mouth and he nodded. “I like the name,” he said, leaning against the counter that Gavin was seated atop. His elbow touched the man’s knee, just barely. “And I like you.”

Gavin damn near choked on his drink, then he turned a look of absolute confoundment in the direction of the android standing nearby. “What are you talking about?”

“I had been thinking-” Nathan began, his voice soft but steady. He took a breath, not needing the air to survive, but moreso requiring the half second to string his thoughts together. Yes, even a super powerful computer with a humanoid body had difficulty composing himself, and surprisingly, that was okay with him.

“When this whole thing began, you offered to take one of my cats home,” Nathan explained, his fingers fidgeting. He wished that he’d borrowed Connor’s coin to have something with which to fiddle. “So, in deciding to keep only one cat, I made certain that only one would be added to your household, should I also happen to be added to it.”

At last, Nathan turned to face the baffled human, his gaze meeting that of Gavin; they were actually eye-level with one another now. “What I’m trying to say is that I’d like to keep seeing you and spending time with you, even now that the cat crisis is over. I’ve enjoyed being your friend and I would gladly be more than that, if it interests you.”

Nathan paused, allowing the human space to get his own word in. Gavin said nothing, but that was typical. Nathan waited, and still the human didn’t reply. So, in growing doubt, the RK900 started anew, “But, if you wouldn’t want an android lover, or if you’d like to leave things as they are, or even if you want to keep it strictly professional, I’ll underst-”

“Shut up,” Gavin muttered. The android glanced up at him, studying his flushed appearance, his embarrassed expression, his racing heartbeat. Nathan was quiet. He waited. Then, finally, “..yeah, I think you’re just confused.”

“I assure you, I’ve considered this as rationally as I can, despite being a bit.. emotionally compromised.” Nathan’s blue gaze drifted downward and he allowed a small smile to curve his lips. “We don’t have to rush. The pace doesn’t matter to me. I only need an answer.”

“I like you, too,” Gavin blurted. He supposed it was the thing to say, since it was what Nathan said, first. “I like you a lot, actually.”

He had the facts- they worked well together, they had common interests, their conversations were generally enjoyable, Nathan’s entire personality and being was pleasant. He was clever, but not overly proud, helpful and considerate, but not in an ass-kissing way. He was patient and compassionate and.. he cared- that part bewildered Gavin most of all.

He also fuckin’ loved cats, which was obviously of utmost importance.

Gavin shrugged, setting his drink aside, then he breathed a sigh like he was giving up, like he was resigning himself. He wouldn’t admit it, but he’d spent such a long time hating himself that he could scarcely believe even an android would be dumb enough to like him. Somehow, the possibility frightened him.

“Let’s give it a try, I guess,” he concluded, terrified and unwilling to let it show.

“Is kissing on the table now, then?” Nathan asked with a sly smile. That easily, he wrecked the human’s nerve all over again, as evident by how Gavin wilted into a breathy chuckle, turning his head aside in embarrassment.

“Yeah,” Gavin replied, one corner of his mouth curving upward. “If you wanna do it now, it’s actually on the counter, but yeah, we can.”

Nathan said no more about it. He sidestepped in order to stand directly before the other, and Gavin splayed his knees apart to allow the android to nestle himself between. The human bent toward Nathan as the android curved his neck, tilting his head and pressing his lips to the other man’s.

On this particular evening, Gavin decided to spend it, in its sweet entirety, at Nathan’s place.

;

END

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the story. All kudos and comments are appreciated. You can also follow me on social media for other content. =)
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